Catch up . . .

Sorry that I have been away so long. My focus is crazy here lately. Let me catch everyone up with what has been happening over the last couple of weeks.

I have been reading a book called “Church Is a Team Sport” by Jim Putman. If you are looking for a great read about how God is still moving within churches today, you really need to pick this one up. I am reading this in preparation for going to a conference that Jim and Avery Willis will be leading. I am really looking forward to this conference and to hear how these men have come up with a unique way to impact communities for Christ through use of the Word of God.

The Journey is going well. We are going through PLACE together. This is a way fro us to discover each others personality traits and spiritual gifts and how they work together for the cause of Christ. It is a lot of fun going through this together and surprisingly we have people showing an interest in joining us in this early part of our Journey together. Continue to pray for our group as we get to know each other better and seek ways that we can serve our Lord most effectively.

My mother is in the hospital with pneumonia. They have been giving her antibiotics and she seems to be getting better a little at a time. We took a walk to the end of the hall and back twice yesterday. It is really important that we keep her strength up as much as possible so that we don’t have more problems with her being self sufficient when she gets home. Please continue to pray for her.

We will be getting our Growth Partners started this week through The Journey. This is the way that we will be growing as Disciples of Christ. I am really looking forward to this. The first topic that we will all be dealing with will be prayer. The group that I am going to be a part of is going to read and discuss Jim Cymbala’s book “Breakthrough Prayer.” I am finally going to be a part of discipleship the way I see it mapped out in God’s word.

I think that I am going back to having just one blog and this may be it. I really like the other format and some of the things that it allows me to do but it is wearing me out trying to keep up with two Blogs. I still have not completely made up my mind and if you would like to have some input into this decision, leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and let’s meet for coffee and talk about it.

P.S. I just noticed - I had my blogging birthday the 16th of March. We should have a party.

Hello world . . .

For those of you that may be wondering why I have not been posting lately – well, I am now trying to keep up with two Blogs. You may be asking yourself, self why would Allen want to try to keep up with two Blogs? I am testing a different blog site and format to see if I like it better. It also helps me keep things a little more separated in my head. Now that may seem a little obscure to you, but it is working, kind of, for me right now. You can read form my other blog by using the link named – Allen’s other blog.

Just to catch everyone up on what has been happening in mine and Irene’s life:

• The Journey was commissioned by Rocky Creek last Sunday evening.
• We have a few families that are committed and others that are still praying about joining up.
• We will start going through a process called PLACE this Sunday evening and I am really looking forward to it. It will be great to learn each others personalities and their spiritual gifts.
• Mike Thompson and I meet weekly to talk through the business of the church and its direction. It is great to watch how God is working in our lives and the life that He is breathing into this church.
• Irene and I have ordered three new windows for our house and they will get put in place over the next week. I love having a brother that knows how to do this stuff that is willing to come down to the house and help.
• We actually have a couple of spring clown events that are coming up in April and May. This is generally a slow time for us.
• Irene and I have booked and are in the process of planning our 10th anniversary trip in October. You may wonder where we are going – Disney World. I have been looking at maps of the park and can hardly wait.
• I still get out in my shop and work from time to time and once spring clean-up around the house is done, I hope to get out there and get a few projects ahead.
  

Well, that’s enough for now. Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and full speed ahead number one.

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium . . .

If you have not seen this movie – get a copy and watch it. It is like being a kid again. The movie is absolutely delightful. It is full of wonder and magic that could only be seen through the eyes of a child. The movie surrounds a magical toy shop. The story is fun. Dustin Hoffman does an excellent job is Mr. Magorium. I love the door of many rooms and the dodge ball that can not be dodged. I also thought that the counting mutant was a great concept. There was one statement that I thought was wonderful – “life is an occasion that you have to step up to.” (I think that is correct – I’ll let you know when I watch it again this weekend.) I recommend this movie highly. If you have sent it or after you have seen it, drop me a comment and let me know what you thought of the movie.

Until next time – I think I’ll wear the red fedora today.

Spring Fever . . .

I don’t know about the rest of you, but as for me, I have spring fever. I am now ready for all of the crazy weather to go away and the weather to settle down. These 30 degree temperature changes are killing me. I get up and it’s cold outside, ok, at least it is cool out side and by 3:00 pm it’s 70 plus degrees outside. Now, I’m not really gripping about the temperature right now because it is awesome. I’m gripping because I am at work and it is really nice outside. I am really blessed to have a great job and great people to work for. I still want to be outside on a 70 degree day. I begin to think of all the project that I could be working on at home. Even better yet, since I am struggling right now, a nap in a hammock would be really nice. Now that I am off my soap box, it’s back to work. If you are struggling with this also, send me a comment and we’ll support each other in this pity party.

Until; next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and hang that hammock under the tree.

Where are you ?

If you have been wondering where I have been - I have been developing a new Blog. It is not complete yet, but I am really excited about it. I started this blog when I was a student Pastor and it still holds a specila place in my heart. I will continue to post here from time to time and I am going to encoureage Irene to post here more often. you can get to my new blog here - notes from a traveling man. E-mail me and tell me what you think at adavis1959@gmail.com.

Until next time - keep your eyes on Jesus and let's keep in touch.

“Quiet Strength” – By Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker

If you are a football fan and have not read this book, run – do not walk – to the nearest book store and buy this book. This is honestly one of the best books that I have read in the last few years. The lessons that can be learned form this book is almost limitless. I just found out that there is a bible study companion to this book and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. The following are a few quotes that hit me where it did some good:

• “It’s not all about football. It’s about the journey – mine and yours – and the lives we can touch, the legacy we can leave, and the world we can change for the better.”
• “Tony, I think you’re at a crossroads” said Donnie (Shell). “You know what life is all about. You profess to be a Christian, and you tell everybody that God has first place in your life. Now, when your career looks like it’s teetering, we’re getting a chance to see what really is in first place for you.”
• “It was the first time I was able to look at football as something that God was allowing me to do, not something that should define me.”
• “I learned three key truths from Nehemiah. First, Nehemiah’s opportunity came in God’s time, not his own. Second, Nehemiah diligently prepared his mind and his heart so he would be ready when God’s time arrived. Third, Nehemiah needed to be prepared to take on the problems, doubt, and adversity that would come his way both from the outside and from within.”
• “I’m a firm believer that the Lord sometimes has to short-circuit even our best plans for our benefit.”
• “Respond to adversity; don’t react.”
• “Be on time. Being late means either it’s not important to you or you can’t be relied upon.”
• “Execute. Do what you’re supposed to do when you’re supposed to do. Not almost. All the way. Not most of the time. All of the time.”
• “Take ownership.”
• “The competing views of success in our world often create an interesting tension. Society tends to define success in terms of accomplishments and awards, material possessions, and profit margins. In the football business, winning is the only thing that matters.
  God’s Word, however, presents a different definition of success – one centered on a relationship with Jesus Christ and a love for God that allows us to love and serve others. God gives each one of us unique gifts, abilities, and passions. How well we use those qualities to have an impact on the world around us determines how “successful” we really are.”

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and let’s talk football.

Reflections from the weekend . . .

Am I the only one that felt like this past weekend went away in a blink? Here are a few reflections from this past weekend:

• Irene and I both seem to be finally on the mend from the upper respiratory infection.
• I carried mother to have a bronci-scope done Friday, so now maybe she can start to get better. She at least got some rest this weekend.
• I really enjoy being around the people that we are starting The Journey with. Next week we are doing a celebration time together and look at who is serious about becoming a partner in The Journey.
• I finished reading “Quiet Strength” this weekend. I’ll post my thoughts later in the week.
• I hate to say it, but I am hooked on Extreme Home Makeover.
• Did anyone else see the new “Knight Rider” last night? I think that it has real potential.
• NASCAR and racing season is finally back. I love to watch the races – I love the NASCAR naps even more.
• Mike had a great post on “Who would you like to be like?” I may try to tackle that one later in the week.
• Irene informed me that next weekend may be a yard work weekend. If it stays 60 degrees – I think that would be great. If I can get ahead, maybe I can keep up this year.
• Celebrated birthdays with my father in law and sister in law this past weekend. We had great steaks, but the true hit of the weekend was Drake – the nephew. He is def the coolest kid around. I’ll try to post pictures this week.
• Irene and I are trying to get everything ready to go to Disney for our 10th anniversary. I am looking forward to the trip, but not as much as the rest of my life with the woman of my dreams. I Love You – Irene.

Until, next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and I’m going to Disney World.

My Walk in The Journey – Continued . .

Well, it seems like it has taken me forever to get back here to continue the post about The Journey and the part that I play in it. In this post I want to spend a little time on the L.I.F.E. groups. L.I.F.E. groups are the way that we are going to reach our communities for Christ. This all ties back to our neighbors. Our job according to the Great Commission is to go into all the world and make disciples. That seems to be a pretty daunting task for any one person. Then God showed me in His word another daunting task. In the book of Nehemiah the people had to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. That would seem to me a pretty overwhelming task. Unless, you look at it as Nehemiah did – each family is responsible for the wall in front of their home. I believe that we need to be responsible for that part of the world right there where we live. If each of us becomes responsible for that – then the world will be reached for Christ.

Through L.I.F.E. groups we will be concentrating on four basic things:
L – We are going to learn from one another. One of the greatest motivators to learning is the people that we are learning with.
I – we are going to intentionally grow. Where there is no growth – there is no life. We want our children to grow and develop – God wants the same things for His children.
F – We are going to learn to follow biblical principles. We are going to seek out life applications to all of the lessons that we will be studying. God gives us principles to live by to help us live to our full potential.
E – We are going to evangelize through relationships. Through praying for our neighbors, building relationships with them and inviting them to join our L.I.F.E. groups we will evangelize our neighborhoods through relationships. These relationships will be developed when we see our community as Christ does – full of people that He was willing to give up His life for.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and lets focus on what is in front of us.

How would you handle this . . .

For those of you that read this blog and have a heart for working with young people (students, teenagers, youth, etc.) I have a hypothetical situation for you. Let’s say that you have a student (non-church member – one far from God) that is coming to your Wednesday night program. One Wednesday night, this student steals a pair of expensive sunglasses – let’s say $100.00 plus. There is no doubt that this student is the one that did this. How would you handle it? Would it make a difference if the student was a member of your student ministry and a church member?
I am really curious about how others would handle this. If you have a student pastor that does not read my blog and you would like his or her take on this, send a link to this post to them. Comments are open and waiting. Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and let’s work through a difficult situation.

Where have I been? ? ?

Sorry that it has taken me so long to post. Since getting back from Meltdown two weeks ago – I have missed (5) days of work because of an upper respiratory infection that went to pneumonia. I am still trying to get me feet back under me. Irene has been sick with the same stuff (we were both out of work at the same time) and she is still dealing with it. My mother has this stuff also and we would appreciate your prayers for her healing. Needless to say this is some nasty stuff.

I am so behind in my posts and I promise to get back to posting more about The Journey and our church plant, but for now I am going to stop and get some work done. Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and wash your hands. You do not want this bug that is going around.

Weekend Recap and Looking to the Future . . .

Just a few thoughts from the weekend:

• Irene and I spent the weekend at the Meltdown Student Conference. It was over the top. Thank you Toby for inviting us to come and help out – you are the man.
• We heard Scott Smith speak Friday evening and then heard Adrian Despres and Ken Forester speak on Saturday.
• When we went to breakfast Saturday morning it was snowing.
• 33 Miles was in concert that night and they were fantastic. Rumor is they may open Meltdown ’09.
• We had White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Banana Pudding Saturday Night. Holy Mackerel that was good.
• We saw Jared Hall, a Christian illusionist Saturday night and he was – WOW!! Where did that bowling ball come from??
• We got to spend some time hanging out and eating with Steve, Kim, AJ and Molly Conley and hear about their new church and talk clowning.
• Sunday mornings highlight to me was the splat experience. If you don’t know what that is – check this out.
• We got to eat at the Apple Barn, Alamo Steak House, Calhoun’s, and the Old Mill. I love being married to a woman who likes to eat at good restaurants.
• Why does the ride home from Pigeon Forge always seem longer than the one going up there?

Looking at the future:

• We start training sessions with our prospective core group for the Journey this weekend.
• I talked with a friend of mine about designing me a sweet new background for my blog and the future.
• Mike’s at a training session for the next two days. I can’t wait to hear the great things that he has learned.
• I’m still working on reading the “Simple Church”. Hopefully I’ll have it finished in the next couple of weeks.
• Irene gave me a book for Christmas and that is what I am reading next, just for pleasure.
• I have got to get back in my shop this week. There are projects that are backing up.
• I am having lunch with Robbie Funderburk this Friday. We haven’t had a chance to talk in a couple of months and I am really looking forward to spending some time together.

Next time we’ll spend some time talking about LIFE Groups, but until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and one more white chocolate macadamia nut banana pudding please.

My walk in The Journey . . .

Last time I talked about The Journey and I told you that I would let you know where I fit into The Journey. Well, I have the privilege of being asked to be the Connections Guy at The Journey. You may ask, what is a connections guy and what exactly does he do? As the Connections Guy I am the person in charge of connections – meaning that I will help organize and help to keep on track the L.I.F.E groups, Growth Partners and Ministry Teams of The Journey. I will talk about each of these aspects of The Journey in separate posts.

One of the foundational beliefs of The Journey lies in Matthew 22:37-38. I believe that those of us who follow Christ generally do a pretty good job loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Where we often fail, especially in today’s busy life, is in loving our neighbors as ourselves. More often than not, I have found out that we don’t even know who our neighbors are. I did a series of posts on who our neighbors are in the last couple of months. You can re-visit those posts here, here and here.

Next time we’ll look at how we think we can begin to build relationships with our neighbors through the L.I.F.E. groups at The Journey. Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and say hello to your neighbors.

The Journey that I am on . . .

I am finally at the point where I can begin to share the journey that God has been directing me on since leaving New Hope in October. Last night we did our vision cast service at Rocky Creek (our sponsoring church) about the church plant that I am helping with. It is called The Journey and we are calling it a new church experience instead of a church plant. We are calling it a new church experience basically because it is completely new for this area. No one is doing this model of church around here at all. At The Journey we have three things that we focus on – Celebration, Connection, and Commission. I will do individual posts on each of the focus areas but for now I will be brief. We believe that we should celebrate through corporate worship by loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength using every tool available to us today. We should connect by growing together in groups of three (Growth Partners.) And lastly, we are called to fulfill the great commission to reach the world around us through serving others in our neighborhoods (L.I.F.E. Groups) and ministry teams.

This is really one of the biggest faith steps that I have ever taken. We are doing things now that I could never have dreamed about before. I’ve gone from having an office at a church and a youth group to having staff meetings with my pastor at the local coffee shop. Just as a point, if any of you wonder which local coffee shop we have settled on – it is Java Jolt on Butler Road. There are a lot of reasons – but lets just say it is comfortable and it has good coffee. Back on subject – what has my step of faith gotten me into? I have gone from a programs based ministry (which is where most churches are) to a relationship based ministry (which is what I have been teaching for years.) Everything that we do at The Journey will be wrapped up in relationships. For those of you that know me really well will understand what a step of faith that this is for me. I am one who must now lead out building relationships with the people around me, and that is stretching me like never before in my walk with Christ.

Next time I’ll talk about where I fit into The Journey. Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and I take a Grande Decaf Skinny Caramel Latte, please.

Sorry . . .

To those who read this blog, I am sorry that I have not been posting like I should. Right now I am way behind in a lot of things. So here are a few of the things that I have been dealing with:

We finally got the big submittal out at the office that I have been working on, so that is one thing off my plate. Now all of the follow-up begins. This is the part of my job that I enjoy the least.

Mike Thompson and I have been meeting a least once a week at area coffee houses trying to find a home for our meetings. I think that we have settled on Java Jolt on Butler Road. The coffee is good and they have WIFI. It is the biggest rush to see how God is directing people into our paths with the same burdens that we have. One thing that I am seeing through all of this is that God has His hand on this and He has a set direction for this Journey.

I will get back to the acrostic on Disciple, I promise. It just seems that the time to finish that up seems to go somewhere else when I get a little spare time. Something else to watch for in the near future is a discussion of our upcoming L.I.F.E. groups through The Journey. I am finally getting my head wrapped around that whole concept.

I have been reading the Simple Church along with a couple of other books. If you have not read this book, get your hands on a copy and start reading. It is a book about how we have over complicated the church with an overload of programs. This is something that I have been feeling deep in my soul for several years and did not have a clue what to do about it. Whether you agree with what is said in this book or not, it is an excellent read.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and try a caramel latte – they are over the top.

D – Develop spiritually

OK, finally I can start trying to explain the acrostic of disciple that a friend gave me. Understanding the foundation that I have laid in the previous posts about the personal responsibility discipleship, today we will look at how a disciple should develop spiritually. Discipleship is a continual walk with Christ. It was always meant to be a growth process that never stops. The same as a child continues to develop until adulthood, our discipleship should be a process of continual spiritual development until we arrive in the presence of Jesus.

Moses called the nation of Israel, in Deuteronomy 5:1, to three distinctive development stages – to hear, to learn and to follow. Let me take a minute to briefly look at each of these. We’ll start with hearing. We need to understand how we hear from God today. He has given us His word and we must spend pointed, focused time in His word each day. When we spend time in His word, He will begin to speak to our hearts things that we need to influence our lives. Hearing is absorbing and accepting information about God.

Once we have heard from God, then we need to move to learning from God. Learning understands what we have heard. We need to understand the meaning of what God has spoken to us and the implications of that meaning and the way those things will impact our lives. We need to grab hold of what God has given us and study it until we fully absorb it until it is a part of us and our way of thinking.

This will lead us to following. Following is putting into action all we have learned and understood. This is simply life application of what God has given us. We need to understand that is God gives us something, we study it, understand it and we don’t live it, our mouths may profess Jesus as Lord but our lives deny Him and His teachings.

As disciples we must develop spiritually in our lives. If we don’t, we all nothing more than children in adult bodies. Until next time – keep you eyes on Jesus and remember a race is not over until we get to the finish line.

Clown Program - report . . .

To those who read the post about the clown program that we did last night in Union, I thought that I would give a brief report. We had the privilege of doing the program at the First Baptist Church. We were invited by our friends Janet and Spencer Ledford. Janet is actually the one who prayed me into clowning, so it is always a special time to gather with them and their family. It was extra special since this is their first ministry as staff at a church. We had a great time and so did all that were in attendance. The best part of the night was that God allowed us to see a harvest for His kingdom. A teenage young lady accepted Christ as her savior last night and we have a new sister to journey through life with. It is always fun to make people smile, laugh and bring joy into a church, but it is special time when you get to see a life changed. We thank the Lord for what He did last night, we give Him the glory and thank Him for the opportunity to join Him in His work. That is what makes all the effort worth while.
Until next time - keep your eyes on Jesus and keep smiling - people will wonder what you are up to.

Clown Program . . .

For those of you that follow what we are doing as clowns - we have a program with PeeWee and Bumper tomorrow evening at the First Baptist Church in Union, SC. This is Irene's home town. Pray that God will use us in a mighty way to bring joy to the people of this church and even bring a harvest of souls for the kingdom.

Until next time - keep your eyes on Jesus and smile, there are clowns on this page.

I don't usually . . .

To begin with, I'm sorry that I didn't post yesterday, but things were crazy at work trying to get a project ready to submit. I'll post either later today or tomorrow starting the acrostic on discipleship. As for the title of today's post - I don't usually post things from e-mails but the following struck a cord with me. I don't know if it is true, but I would like to think that it was. So here goes . . .

If you don't know GOD, don't make stupid remarks!!!!!!!

A United States Marine was attending some college courses between assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who was an a vowed atheist and a member of the ACLU.

One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, 'God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes.'

The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, 'Here I am God. I'm still waiting.'

It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him; knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold. The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence.

The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, 'What the heck is the matter with you? Why did you do that?'

The Marine calmly replied, 'God was too busy today protecting America's soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid stuff and act like an idiot. So, He sent me.'

A big thanks to all those in the service that are defending our rights around the world. May God bless you and keep you safe to return to your loved ones. Until next time - keep your eyes on Jesus and pray for our troops around the world.

Discipleship continued . . .

Last time we looked at what discipleship is not. Now, to look at what discipleship is, we need to look at the followers of Christ and what their lives modeled. What I learned as a definition of a disciple was a person who learned at the master’s feet. This is what I see in scripture, but I also see this going a step farther. Not only do I see disciples learning from the master, but I see what they have given up to do this. Jesus said that in order to follow Him, one must take up their cross daily. Those people that He was speaking to understood that in order to follow Jesus, they would have to give up everything. There were those in scripture that were not willing to do that and they walked away. That was their choice – their personal responsibility. Those that did follow Jesus, took the personal responsibility of doing so and understood the cost.

To take discipleship one step further, Jesus left instructions for those of us that are disciples to make more disciples. Once again, notice that there is personal responsibility involved in this part of discipleship. During this series of posts, I am going to expound on an acrostic that a friend gave me. We’ll take a walk and try to understand what Jesus meant when He commanded us to go into the world and make disciples.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and remember – church is the people, not the building.

Discipleship . . .

Have you ever sat down and thought about what it means to be a disciple of Christ, what discipleship really is or what it might cost? I have been thinking about this a lot over the last couple of months. If the truth be known, most of my adult life has been spent trying to figure out discipleship. I will try to be brief in my conclusions.

Let me start by telling you what discipleship is not. It is not a program in a church. That is what the church has tried to do for years and it hasn’t worked because it was never designed to be a program. Discipleship was designed to be something very personal. I can remember growing up and going to something that was called Training Union. Then the program was renamed and called discipleship training. The problem lies in that discipleship was never designed to be ten people sitting in a room reading parts from a book. By doing what we have been doing in the church, we have removed the personal responsibility of discipleship. Discipleship is not a program, but it is a personal walk with Jesus.

Let me know what you think about this subject. Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and a pizza with everything for me please.